<p>Hi all -</p>
<p>Can you help generate a college list for a friend?</p>
<p>High School type - High Ranking Public in the Northeast (if it helps, two kids got into places like Boston College and University of Maryland with a 3.4 and 3.2 GPA respectively - I know one kids had a 30 ACT, not sure about the other kid). 95% go to 4-year colleges, and last year there were 4 National AP Scholars. Average graduating senior GPA at the school is a 3.3.</p>
<p>Stats: GPA is 3.9 weighted (school sends weighted grades only) - 4.0 weighted in Sophomore and Junior years.
ACT: 30 (may retake in the fall)
Extracurricular - President of two clubs, no athletics, heavy volunteer, part-time job (20 hours/week)</p>
<p>Wants a school with spirit and sports ("paint your face and go to the game" type of school) and Greek life.</p>
<p>Possible major in history or something else in liberal arts.</p>
<p>Let me know if you need more info - it's not for me personally so I may need to ask and get back to the thread which may take some time.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Davidson? Miami of Ohio? State flagship, of course; Wake Forest; Hobart; University of Miami; Temple; Lehigh; Tulane; Butler; Syracuse; Pitt; Clemson; SMU; UWVA, or some other southern public universities as low-match/safeties. . . </p>
<p>Is money an issue…or can the family afford any college?</p>
<p>Hi Thumper1. Not sure and kind of a sensitive question. I figure that I (or really, the wise parents on CC - I told her to check in here) can give them ideas and they can figure out whether they think it’s affordable or not. </p>
<p>I personally think Davidson is a reach. And it’s not all that rah rah.</p>
<p>What about any of the Big Ten flagships…Ohio State, Wisconsin, UMich, for example. UMD-CP, Pitt, UIUC, really any state flagship. </p>
<p>How about Furman, Elon, U of Richmond? What about some of the Texas schools? How about schools in CA?</p>
<p>I think Syracuse is an excellent suggestion! </p>
<p>Lots of good ideas but the size of the school (student population) and desired geographic area are key factors in truly being able to help. </p>
<p>Thanks. Schools from the Midwest to the East are what she is targeting.</p>
<p>Also, I found out something else interesting about the high school - one-quarter of the graduating class were AP Scholars with Distinction, and another eighth were either AP Scholars with Honors or AP Scholars. Seems like a lot, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>Can anyone else help? I don’t know about school size but I think larger since they want spirit/sports? Thanks!!</p>
<p>In OH, OSU, OU, Miami. All very different environments, all offer some merit aid depending on stats.</p>
<p>Thanks. I got a little more detail. They are looking for some “match and reasonable reach” schools - they are going to use the state flagship and Indiana U. as safeties. Would some out-of-state flagships be matches? How about the harder state flagships e.g. Michigan and UVA? Are those matches or reaches? Is Syracuse more of a safety or a match? Thanks!</p>
<p>“Miami of Ohio” is very big in Greek, not so much in sports…unless you are a “hockey” and figure skating person, then the match is practically perfect. Very very expensive for OOS, I am not sure about Merit award and Honors (with this stats). Miami may be more expensive for OOS than some privates. My D. graduated from Miami of Ohio (in-state public for us) and aver 3 years later still saying that she could not think about better place for herself. She was in fact in Sorority and loved to watch the hokey games with incredible synchro skating team performance at openning (this team was #2 in a world at some point of time, do not know now). Opportunities for top kids are tremendous and Miami even has campus in Europe (Lux), but I am nt familiar with that. </p>
<p>There are dozens of schools that could work. They (parents and student) need to figure out which region of the country. Public U, private, LAC. Strong Greek or who cares about that. Large or small. Urban or rural. Add U of Wisconsin to the mix- stronger than Indiana. Many from the east coast as well. Too many choices, one needs to whittle the possibilities to several. The proposed major matters as well. Some schools have top notch grad school in a field and that does trickle down- especially if a student is in an Honors program and takes grad level courses as an undergrad or works in grad labs.</p>
<p>Sounds like a HS with a strong AP system. A student would need to take many AP courses (and do well in them) to be considered to have taken the most rigorous curriculum available.</p>
<p>More info: Not interested in middle of a city, would like a real “college town,” very interested in Greek life. Major undecided - possibly History - definitely not math or science. </p>
<p>University of Delaware. University of New Hampshire. What about some of the Maryland or Virginia colleges? </p>
<p>State universities with 75% ACT scores around 30 or 31 include
NC Chapel Hill
Ohio State
SUNY Binghamton
Purdue
Minnesota</p>
<p>But it sounds like only the first two would match the requirements. Seems like a bad idea to match with out of state publics only though (should add some of the large privates that match his criteria)</p>
<p>Thank you! What about “reasonable reaches?”</p>
<p>If the student is willing to travel further west take a look at U. of Denver. No football team but awesome support and involvement for nationally-ranked hockey team’s games, likewise with men’s lacrosse in the spring. Tailgating and student sections.
Within walking distance of DU are places to eat, pubs, etc.
<a href=“http://www.du.edu”>www.du.edu</a></p>
<p>If he doesn’t want to be in the middle of the city, will he want OSU (smack in the middle of Columbus) or UNC (right in the middle of Raleigh-Durham)? Or Minnesota…right in the middle of the twin cities?</p>
<p>I don’t know how this student would feel about being in Madison, but the U of Wisconsin is a good choice for a history major.</p>
<p>ETA-Is it that he doesn’t want an urban campus like NYU of BU, or would he be ok with a real contained campus within a small city?</p>
<p>Madison is home to both the state government and the flagship U. The city is dominated by the university, however. A college town.</p>
<p>That weighted gpa might not translate to a very high gpa if this student takes a lot of weighted classes. UW only considers the unweighted gpa- students are expected to take the most rigorous curriculum their school offers. Those from schools with few AP’s are not penalized by it, nor are students whose school does not weight grades. The student and parents can easily calculate an unweighted gpa and should do so for a more realistic view. Improving grades also matter- a poor freshman year but stellar junior year show increased maturity.</p>